Meet Yuzuru Hanyu, Japan’s Young Award-Winning Figure Skating Prince

If the ice rink is the battle arena for kingship, Japan’s 21-year old Yuzuru Hanyu (羽生結弦) will undeniably be among the top candidates for the crown. In fact, he’s already the king of the ice rink in the making!

His reputation as Japan’s figure skating prince isn’t just a mere title befitting his young age in this global competition. His crown has been cemented out of his years of solid professional wins in and out of Japan and his record-breaking performances during the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics. He was the young skater who smashed his own highest record only to set a new one and raise the bar higher for the rest of the world to conquer!

Highlights of his style include the flawless combination of quadruple jumps and triple axels that are so breathtaking that even watching him on videos feels like you’re in the actual arena! He even did the Biellmann spin, which is known to be a difficult move for men to master, look like an effortless ordeal – a piece of cake.

As majestic, powerful, and as cool he may seem to be while gliding across the wide expanse of ice, this Sendai prodigy has his own cute and lovely side known to his avid supporters.

Yuzuru Hanyu likes Winnie-the-Pooh. So don’t be surprised to see fans throwing all sorts of Winnie stuffed toys after his performances, or see Yuzu-kun hugging his own Pooh charm tight during interviews. Much like his reputation, his solid relationship with the iconic cartoon character seemed to be going stronger as well!

Just like any other aspirant from different sports, Yuzuru also has his own hero – someone he looked up to and considers as his inspiration. It came in the person of the professional Russian skater, Evgeni Plushenko, who was a champion himself during his prime.

In an inspiring twist of fate, they both met and clashed on the men’s short program portion during the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics in Russia where he scored higher at 97.98 against Plushenko’s 91.39 points.

Overall, though, Team Russia bagged the win with their full team of solid, power-skater lineup.

More figure skating competitions mean more game for Yuzuru Hanyu and he seemingly doesn’t have plans of stopping anytime soon. Why would he? He’s already a raging snowstorm that sweeps fans and judges off their feet with his elegant routines; a natural sweetheart that leaves female fans squealing from his jaw-dropping toe loops and Biellmann spins.

Yuzuru Hanyu has claimed his spot on the ice rink royal hierarchy, and he’ll undoubtedly give more awe-inspiring surprises for the coming international competitions and Olympic games. So fans, let’s all lace up our pairs of skates and slide on ice with our prince!

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